Getting the Most Out
of Your Volunteer
Experience
A Manual for High School Students
S. Mark Pancer
Steven D. Brown
Ailsa Henderson
Kimberly Ellis-Hale
Vanessa Buote
Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and
Policy (LISPOP)
Wilfrid Laurier University
© 2006 Imagine Canada.
Copyright for Knowledge Development Centre material is waived for charitable and nonprofit organizations
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Knowledge Development Centre
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ISBN# 1-55401-194-9
Imagine Canada’s Knowledge Development Centre is funded through the
Community Participation Directorate of the Department of Canadian Heritage as
part of the Canada Volunteerism Initiative. The views expressed in this publication do
not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Table of Contents
Introduction \ 1
Volunteering: What’s In It For You? \ 1
Getting the Most Out of Your Volunteer Experience \ 3
1. Do something you enjoy \ 3
2. Think about what you’d like to get out of volunteering \ 4
3. Explore the possibilities \ 4
4. Use your network to help you get started \ 6
5. Find out what you’ll be doing \ 8
6. Do the best job you can \ 9
Getting the Most Out of Your Volunteer Experience: A Manual for High School Students
I
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the invaluable contribution rendered by our project’s Research Co-ordinator,
Wendy Rose, whose organizational skills we simply could not have done without.
II
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Getting the Most Out of Your Volunteer
Experience: A Manual for High School
Students
Introduction
Volunteering: What’s In It For You?
Do you have to spend a certain amount of time
Volunteering is fun
volunteering or doing community service before you
Most of the students we talked to had a lot of fun
can graduate high school? If so, you’re not alone.
volunteering. They enjoyed the people they worked
More and more schools are making community
with, had a chance to do things they liked, and got a
service a requirement for graduation.
sense of satisfaction from their activities:
What are some of the volunteer activities that you can
consider doing to earn your community service credit?
How can you make sure you have a good volunteer
experience? And what will you get out of volunteering,
besides your high school diploma?
We interviewed 100 second-year university students
who graduated from Ontario high schools in 2003 and
had completed their community service requirement.
They provided useful information about how they
approached their community service and how they
found their volunteer placements. This booklet is
based on their experience. It explains how you can
benefit from volunteering to help others and how you
can get the most out of your volunteer experience.
“...All the kids were pretty funny there,
young kids mostly grades 3 to 6, and when
you are around, they treat you like you are a
celebrity or something...They all know your
name. It was just a lot of fun.”
[Coached floor hockey]
Volunteering helps you connect with
people
Volunteering can provide you with an opportunity to
connect with people in a way that you may not have
done before. It also gives can you a chance to work
with people of all ages and from a wide variety of
backgrounds. Students who volunteer often form
strong relationships with the people they meet and
work with through their placements:
“I like the fact that the kids couldn’t wait for
you to come back. Just that two or three
hours a week being there meant the world
to them...It just was a huge thing to them.
They cried when I left.”
[Volunteered at a disabled children’s centre]
Getting the Most Out of Your Volunteer Experience: A Manual for High School Students
1
Volunteering makes you feel
appreciated
Volunteering lets you learn new skills
When you volunteer, people know that you are giving
people we interviewed said they learned new skills,
your time without getting any payment in return,
such as communications skills, leadership skills, and
and they appreciate that. Many of the young people
job-related skills (e.g., customer relations skills):
You can learn a great deal by volunteering. The young
we interviewed said that the people they worked
with appreciated them and that they showed their
appreciation:
“They respected us a lot and they made us
feel good about volunteering. They didn’t
just expect us to work really hard and then
get anything for it, I mean, they treated us
really well.”
[Volunteered for Habitat for Humanity]
Volunteering makes a difference
One of the most powerful things that people get from
volunteering is the knowledge that they have made
a difference in someone’s life. Many of the students
we interviewed talked about this and were deeply
affected by what the positive feeling this gave them:
“…It was really rewarding to see that just a
small amount of time from me made such a
big difference for other people.”
[Volunteered in a nursing home]
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“I learned a lot from it and it taught me to
work with younger age people as well, and
I got to gain some leadership skills and also
some organizational skills because I had
to develop some activities and plan out my
hours that I was working.”
[Organized a Sunday school for children at
church]
Volunteering makes you aware
As a result of volunteering, you will gain a new
sense of appreciation for what you have and a better
understanding of what life is like for people who may
not have very much:
“…The homeless shelter was really positive
in the fact that it really makes you step back
and realize what you have and what all
these people don’t have.”
[Volunteered at a homeless shelter in
downtown Toronto]
Volunteering allows you to explore
different careers
Volunteering is an excellent way to explore job
Getting the Most Out of Your
Volunteer Experience
and career possibilities. By volunteering for an
1. Do something you enjoy.
organization that works in a specific area of interest,
Students who had the most positive experiences
you can get a sense of whether you are interested in
chose volunteer activities that allowed them to do
that area. Several of the students we interviewed said
things that they enjoyed. Don’t just pick the first thing
that their community service activities helped them
that comes to mind. Think about the kinds of things
to decide what kind of career they wanted (or didn’t
you’d like to do. Do you like sports? Music? Art?
want) to pursue:
Cooking? Building things? Working with animals?
“...What I want to get into is working with
children, so it was a good experience
getting to interact with the kids.”
[Volunteered in an after-school program for
elementary school children]
“I wanted to be a doctor at one point only to
realize that was not the vocation for me.”
[Volunteered at a hospital]
Volunteering helps you gain job-related
skills that can lead to a part-time or
summer job
By volunteering, you can gain qualifications and
experience and make contacts that can lead directly
to training programs or to part-time or summer jobs:
“…it was definitely positive because now I
became a coach and I got paid for doing it.”
[Coached skating]
Being outside? If you like sports, you could think
about volunteering as a coach. If you like music, why
not volunteer to entertain children or seniors? If you
like to build things, try Habitat for Humanity.
“I figured that since we had to do volunteer
work, I might as well do something that I
liked, so sports.”
[Coached floor hockey]
Also, give some thought to what kind of people you’d
like to work with, for example, children, seniors, the
less fortunate, etc.
“It was really good to work with kids that
age, in a variety of different activities. It
kind of helped me realize that’s what I enjoy
doing. I like working with kids a lot.”
[Volunteered with children at a day camp]
“…With my school here at Laurier, I need
volunteer hours for my résumé to apply
for co-op and if I hadn’t done any of that in
high school, it would probably have been
more difficult for me to get into the co-op
program.”
[Volunteered at a food and clothing bank]
Getting the Most Out of Your Volunteer Experience: A Manual for High School Students
3
2. Think about what you’d like to get
out of volunteering.
3. Explore the possibilities.
Would you like to explore a career? Get some
You can volunteer through your high school; with
experience working with children? Discover more
elementary schools, churches, hospitals, retirement
about your community? Learn something new?
homes, sports teams, and other organizations in your
The appropriate volunteer placement can help you
community; or with charitable organizations such as
accomplish these goals.
food banks, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters.
“I liked working with the kids. Actually, I
want to be a teacher now because of it, so
it really helped me figure out what I wanted
to do.”
[Helped with drama productions in an
elementary school]
There are many, many volunteer possibilities.
Here are some of the volunteer activities that students
have done to complete their community service
requirement:
•
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•
•
•
•
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•
•
•
At High School
Participated on committees such as the
yearbook committee, athletic council,
prom committee, or student council.
Organized fundraisers at school (e.g.,
•
•
•
fashion shows).
Helped out in the library.
Read books to children.
Helped coach sports teams.
Helped teachers with photocopying,
laminating, and marking assignments.
Helped children with assignments,
grammar exercises, and proofreading.
Helped out in the school office.
Helped prepare breakfasts and snacks for
nutrition programs.
Volunteered as peer mediators and
helped to settle arguments and disputes
among fellow students.
Coached and managed sports teams.
Volunteered as linesmen, referees, or
scorekeepers at school sporting events.
Tutored other students.
Gave tours of the school.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
4
At Elementary School
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At or Through a Place of Worship
Taught Sunday school.
Planned children’s activities.
Volunteered with youth groups.
Renovated rooms and buildings.
Acted as a youth representative for a
church.
Served as an usher for religious services.
Volunteered at church camps and bible
schools.
Helped organize and staff events such as
festivals and Christmas parties.
•
•
•
•
At Retirement Homes
Helped serve drinks, snacks, and meals
to residents.
Entertained and spent time talking with
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Volunteered with organizations such
as the Epilepsy Foundation, Canadian
residents.
Cancer Society, or Heart and Stroke
Helped organize and staff events such as
Foundation.
Canada Day and activity days.
Helped decorate and prepare for special
events.
•
•
•
•
•
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•
In the Community
Sports Clubs
Coached sports teams.
Led training programs.
Set up equipment.
Delivered children to practices and
games.
Accompanied teams on trips.
•
•
•
Volunteered at YMCA or YWCA
Painted, set up equipment, and helped at
building sites for Habitat for Humanity.
Helped out at community events such as
fairs, picnics, and parades.
Volunteered at museums, science
centres, and public libraries.
Served food, entertained, talked to
patients, and organized materials at a
local hospital.
Walked dogs, cleaned cages, and fed
animals at the Humane Society, Animal
Aid, or veterinary clinics.
Kept score at games, refereed, and
judged competitions.
With Children
Volunteered as a counsellor at a day
camp or an overnight camp.
Volunteered with a youth group.
Served as a Big Brother or Big Sister.
Acted as a Cub or Girl Guide leader.
Taught swimming lessons.
Volunteered at a day care.
Volunteered at a horseback-riding
program for developmentally challenged
•
•
•
•
•
With Charitable Organizations
Sorted, boxed, and packaged food at a
food bank.
Prepared and served meals at soup
kitchens.
Talked to people and served meals at a
homeless shelter.
Canvassed for funds.
Helped organize and staff fundraising
events such as golf tournaments, dancea-thons, walk-a-thons, and yard sales.
children.
Getting the Most Out of Your Volunteer Experience: A Manual for High School Students
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4. Use your network to help you get
started.
Everyone has a network of friends, family, teachers,
clergy, neighbours, and others who can help them
find volunteer placements or make contact with
community agencies or organizations. Go and talk to
the people in your network. Ask them to help you.
Teachers and guidance counsellors may know of
possible volunteer positions that are available within
the school and in the community. They may also be
able to direct you to volunteer opportunities that meet
your specific interests.
“Either our teachers would help set us up
with phone numbers or call organizations
themselves and say they had students
interested in maybe helping out there…The
teachers helped out a lot if you wanted them
to help out.”
You parents know your interests and experiences
and may be able suggest volunteer activities that
might be of interest to you. If they work for an
organization that uses volunteers, they can tell you
whom to contact.
“My mother was a nurse so she suggested
it, and then I got into contact with a friend of
my mother’s who also worked as a nurse,
and she set it up.”
Friends usually have similar interests. Finding out
what activities your friends are involved in may give
you an idea of the type of volunteer position you might
like. Friends may also be able to help you contact the
organization.
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“I just wanted to find something and one
of my friends actually volunteered there at
the desk and she put my name in there and
they called me.”
Use your community contacts. Think of the
programs and activities you’ve been involved in. Have
you ever gone to camp? Sung in a choir? Played on
a sports team? The contacts you’ve already made
with these programs and organizations can be used
to find a good volunteer placement. For example,
camps often need plenty of volunteer help. Coaches
usually enjoy having students as assistant coaches
or even managers. Some students may even get the
chance to coach their own team. In some sports, such
as figure skating, you may be expected to coach the
younger children as you progress into higher levels.
“I started with the league when it was
created. My parents’ family friend kind of
started the league so I decided to play in
it for a year or two and then when I heard
there was a younger age, around my
brother’s age, in it, I decided to help out.
It was also on my volunteer hours, so I
figured why not, and it was a good time and
I thought the kids enjoyed it.”
Other sources of information include your local
volunteer centre, newspapers, telephone directories,
and the Internet. At certain times of the year
(for example, Christmas or other major holidays
or festivals), many organizations advertise for
volunteers. You can also find organizations in the
yellow pages of your local phone book.
“[I volunteered with] Canadian Cancer
Society through an ad I saw in the paper.”
“The yellow pages, I think that’s how we
found it [the organization with which I
volunteer], through the yellow pages.”
The Internet can also be useful in helping you
find information about volunteer possibilities. You
can search for specific organizations, companies,
hospitals, animal shelters, and sports teams with
which you would like to volunteer. Most communities
also have a volunteer centre. Volunteer centres
usually have Web sites that list a wide range of
volunteer possibilities. Here are some Web sites to
get you started:
Volunteer Centres in Ontario:
Take the initiative. Once you decide what type of
volunteer activity you’d like to do, you’ll have to take
some initiative. Make some phone calls. Send some
e-mails. Go and visit some organizations with which
you think you would like to volunteer. This can be a
little intimidating at first, but after the first couple of
calls or visits, it gets easier, and you will usually find
that the organizations you contact will be eager to
help you get started.
“We called around to the different food
banks in my area and just asked if they
needed any help or if I could volunteer and
most of them said yes. They all needed a bit
of help, a lot of help actually.”
www.volunteer.ca/volcan/eng/content/vol-centres/
province_results.php?p=11
Youth Volunteering in The Greater Toronto Area:
www.volunteertoronto.on.ca/yintro.asp
Charity Village Web page on seeking volunteer
opportunities:
www.charityvillage.ca/applicant/volunteer.asp
Ontario School Counsellors’ Association, voluntary
sector:
www.osca.ca/volsector.htm
Getting the Most Out of Your Volunteer Experience: A Manual for High School Students
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5. Find out what you’ll be doing.
Many volunteer opportunities involve working with
When you contact a group, program, or organization
children. Children can be difficult to manage. You
to explore the possibility of volunteering, ask
should think about your ability to deal with children
what you’ll be doing, what the times and hours of
who misbehave.
involvement will be, and who you’ll be working with.
The best kinds of volunteer placements should
allow you to do something you enjoy but should also
provide you with the opportunity to learn skills and to
make a difference in people’s lives. Don’t be afraid to
ask questions.
Ask about the kinds of activities you will be doing,
“...Some of the kids, especially in the
recreational classes, weren’t really serious
about being there, so it was kind of like their
parents just made them go, so they were
just running around and not really paying
attention…It could get frustrating if they
weren’t serious and they didn’t want to be
there.”
and think carefully about how comfortable you will
be with these activities. For example, some of the
Some volunteer activities can be physically difficult,
students we interviewed had volunteered in situations
unpleasant, or boring.
in which people were very ill or in great distress.
Many people can have difficulty with these kinds of
situations, so if you are thinking of volunteering in
this kind of setting, you should think carefully about
whether this is something that you can deal with.
“There was a lot of sick people, and you
know it’s not that much fun to be around to
work. I didn’t really enjoy being around sick
people that much.”
[Volunteered at a hospital]
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“I can’t say I really enjoyed the receipt
writing for the Canadian Cancer Society
because it was kind of boring writing
receipts all the time.”
“It was cold when I went canvassing, and
I don’t like when people go door to door
around at my house so I don’t like doing it to
other people.”
Ask about the time commitment involved. Many
volunteer settings require you to commit to be at a
6. Do the best job you can.
The more you put into your volunteering, the more
specific place at specific times for a specific number
you’ll get out of it. The people who get the most
of hours each week. Some of the students we
benefit from volunteering are the ones who really
interviewed found this difficult, because there were
commit themselves to their volunteer activities and
other things they had to do or wanted to do that
who go above and beyond what’s required of them.
conflicted with their volunteering and because the
It’s this kind of commitment that will result in a glowing
organizations they volunteered with were not flexible
letter of reference, new skills, and the feeling that
about their time requirements.
you’ve really made a difference.
“It was a lot of time commitment...Their
meetings would be during the day...because
they were working their 9 to 5 schedule and
I was working my school schedule so...we
have a meeting at 10:30 in the morning then
I have to miss a class or something.”
“The commitment was a lot if I had
something else going on on Thursday night
or a project due on Friday or something.”
Ask about where you will be volunteering. Are you
willing to travel to get to your volunteer placement,
or would you prefer to do something close to your
home or school? You should remember that as time
goes on, you might become less interested in going
to volunteer if you have to take a bus or drive a long
distance. Also, if you will be relying on your parents
or others to drive you to your placement, you should
check with they will be able to get you there regularly.
Getting the Most Out of Your Volunteer Experience: A Manual for High School Students
9
Notes
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Knowledge Development Centre
This and other Knowledge Development
Centre publications are also available online
at www.kdc-cdc.ca, or as a special collection
of the Imagine Canada — John Hodgson
Library at www.nonprofitscan.ca.
www.kdc-cdc.ca